Advaita Vedanta – Philosophy of Unity
Advaita Vedanta is one of the oldest schools of Indian philosophy. It was immensely strengthened by the teachings of Shri Shankaracharya in the 8th century, but its roots go back much further, to the Vedic age.
The Vedantas or Upanishads are part of the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of Hinduism. There are three schools of philosophy based on the Vedantas, the Dvaita, Vishista-dvaita Y Advaita.
Dvaita is the dualistic school of Indian philosophy. In this, God and the universe are two completely separate realities, God has created the universe and all humans, and therefore humans have a lower level of existence than God.
Vishista-dvaita is the philosophy of qualified monoism. In this too, God has created the universe and all humans, but they were created from God himself, from his own Divine substance. Therefore, here, all humans also have a divine origin and are part of God, although they have a separate reality.
The third and strongest intellectual school is the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of monism. Here, the universe has no separate reality at all. This does not mean that the Universe does not exist, but rather that it does not have an absolute reality, its reality is Mayan in nature, it is only relatively real, that is, its reality is ambiguous. Only God, here called Brahman or Unity, is the one with true reality. For humans too, our individual consciousness has no absolute reality, our individual identity is only relatively real, and it is only Brahman or Unity that lies at the root of our consciousness that is real.
The difference with Vishista-dvaita is that in Vishista-dvaita, the universe and humans are also considered real even though they are part of God, but in Advaita Vedanta philosophy, the universe and our consciousness are not considered real in themselves. and they are only the Unity that is at our base, both the base of the universe and our individual consciousness, which is real.
Therefore, it is not about creation or divine intervention in the case of Advaita Vedanta philosophy. The Brahman or Unity is an immanent principle only, it gives reality to the world that would not exist without it. The world has come out of it because of the cycle of expansion and contraction through which the universe moves, and this cycle is a natural cycle that is neither desired nor controlled.
Advaita Vedanta gives a goal for our spirituality because it says that Brahman or Unity is at the root of our consciousness. Then it becomes possible to ‘see’ or ‘experience’ the state of Brahman by seeing in our consciousness. This is done through Yoga.
The Advaitist can follow different paths of Yoga, such as Raja, Gyan, Karma or Bhakti Yoga. But the ultimate goal is always the same, to become one and merge with the Unity of Brahman. This mystical experience is the supreme goal of the path of Advaita Vedanta philosophy.
Advaita Vedanta is an immensely empowering and ennobling path. It tells us directly that we are right now in this moment the Truth of the universe itself. There is no one above us who can guide or control us. We are already the highest possible power, and we just need to realize this to achieve the complete freedom we all yearn for.